Freeman, Notre Dame Brace for Elko’s Aggies in Top-25 Showdown

Notre Dame didn’t have to wait long for another marquee test. After the sting of the Miami loss and an early bye week, the Irish return to action under the lights at Notre Dame Stadium against No. 16 Texas A&M for the Aggies’ first visit in 25 years. The matchup brings with it multiple layers of intrigue: Mike Elko’s return to South Bend, a veteran Aggies roster loaded with experience in the trenches, and the pressure on Marcus Freeman’s Irish to show tangible growth after a frustrating opener. For Freeman, this week is less about narratives or conference pride and more about proving that Notre Dame can take the frustration of Week One and turn it into progress against another ranked opponent.

A Mike Elko Team: Tough and Disciplined

Freeman didn’t mince words about the kind of opponent Notre Dame will see Saturday.

“A&M is 2 and 0, playing really well in all three phases,” Freeman said. “Mike Elko teams are tough, physical, and they won’t beat themselves. On offense, they’re a veteran group led by their O line, really good quarterback that can hurt you with both his legs and his arm, deep running back room and fast and talented skill on their offense. Defensively, it starts with their D line, and they’ve got guys on all three levels that are talented and productive. This will be another great challenge Saturday night for our program.”

Elko, who served as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2017, returns to South Bend now leading an Aggies team that looks every bit like his reputation suggests: disciplined and physical at the point of attack.

Lessons From Last Year’s Meeting

Freeman noted that while both programs return familiar schemes, the personnel differences will change the matchup.

“Each coordinator, each team, the cohesiveness of (Mike) Elko and Colin Klein and what they do, it won’t change dramatically,” Freeman said. “But as I think I said earlier, you tailor what you ask your guys to do based off your personnel. And they’re asking their quarterback to do a little bit different than what they asked the starter to do that we played them last year. There’s still some schemes that are the same, right? There’s some concepts that are the same, but again, their quarterback’s different. Some of their wideouts are different. Their fast guys, last year they had probably a little bit taller, longer, bigger body guys. And so, there’s some similarities. There’s some core principles that we know that we’ll see, but also there are some adjustments that we’re going to have to be able to make.”

SEC as a Measuring Stick?

For Freeman, it’s less about SEC vs. Notre Dame and more about using the Aggies as a benchmark for improvement. The Aggies bring more than a top-25 ranking — they bring the SEC label, something Freeman was asked about directly. He acknowledged the respect for A&M, but downplayed the “conference” narrative.

“I think it’s the opponent and the opportunity to play Texas A&M is all the motive you need, right?” Freeman said. “It is a program that I and our program respect, but college football respects Texas A&M and the program, the job they’ve done. And so I don’t get caught up in conferences as much as the great opponents that you faced week one, and now you’re facing again week two,” Freeman said. “And it’s a chance for us to again see how good we are versus a really good opponent, just like it was week one – It was a top 10 matchup. This is no different — a top 25 matchup — and we get a chance to go out to Notre Dame Stadium and see how well, how much we’ve improved from the start of the season to now, which is week three in college football.”

Superfan Shane Gillis Joins the Ride

Monday’s presser ended on a lighter note when Freeman was asked about comedian and noted Notre Dame superfan Shane Gillis, who has become a familiar presence around the program.

“Well, I haven’t given him a hard time. I actually had a chance to watch a little bit of college football, and I saw a commercial pop up where he was wearing a Texas Longhorn shirt, and so I haven’t given him crap for that yet,” Freeman joked. “But, Shane’s an awesome human, right? I’ve got a chance to spend some time with him, get a chance to talk to him, and he’s got a lot of notoriety just because of who he is and the way he really performs his craft, but we appreciate the support. We appreciate him and the support he gives our program. And so, it’s always good to have somebody like Shane Gillis support your guys and, helps you recruiting, I guess. And makes us kind of cool.”

What It Means

Notre Dame enters Saturday night with both urgency and opportunity. The Irish must show that the frustration of Miami has been channeled into growth, and that their young quarterback and veteran leaders can rise to the challenge against another physical, top-25 opponent.

Texas A&M, under Mike Elko, will test every aspect of Notre Dame’s maturity and execution. For Freeman, it’s a chance to measure his program against a respected national opponent — not just for what it says about the Irish in Week 3, but for the growth it represents in a season still filled with potential.